A Place For Children

Children have a Place in the Courthouse

The Orange County Courthouse is quickly becoming a landmark and a sign of the growth of our community. With marble hallways and imposing courtrooms, the Courthouse is a dignified setting for the weighty business of adult life. Yet every day many children must enter this adult world, not as part of a school tour, but as involuntary witnesses to their parents’ and guardians’ court business. Children are routinely brought to the Courthouse because their caregivers have no safe place to leave them while they are required to make court appearances. Often children are left in the halls outside the courtrooms because they become too disruptive in the courtrooms. Further they can be exposed to disturbing and inappropriate proceedings. A Place for Children – a licensed drop-in child care center for children whose families have business with the court – lets children be children, instead of spending long sessions listening to adult interactions that could be painful or frightening for them.

A Place for Children’s goal is to provide on-site, safe, high quality child care for families with official court business while ensuring linkage to available social services. A key component of A Place for Children is that it will serve as a link between much needed social services and the high-risk families who could use these services. It is hoped that linking families with needed services may break the cycle of repeated visits to court and that A Place for Children will provide a vehicle for reaching out to individuals with information about the community services to which they and their families are entitled. A Place for Children can be a touchpoint for a family member in a moment of crisis, making a difference in the life of that individual and their family.

Through referrals to needed services and through information, assistance is provided to

children and families well beyond their visit to the Courthouse. During their visit to A Place for Children, parents and guardians, can obtain up to date information on important child development and parenting topics or receive referrals that connect their families to the resources they need for future success. Referrals are given to Neighborhood Centers for Families and other helpful community services such as housing assistance, health care, credit and career counseling, long term child care, and educational programs for children.

The concept of a children’s center, appropriately named A Place for Children, was derived from the concern shared by Orange County Chairman Linda W. Chapin and Judge Cynthia Z. Mackinnon for children accompanying a caregiver to the Courthouse. With their leadership a task force of dedicated individuals worked together to see that the concept became a reality. In the Fall of 1997 members of the task force toured children’s centers in the State of New York Unified Court System. This tour confirmed the groups’ commitment to provide on-site quality child care for families with official court business and to reach the underserved.

Space on the second floor of the Courthouse was identified and prepared for A Place for Children in Spring 1998, and funding for the initial year and a half of operation was provided by the Citizens’ Commission for Children, a department of Orange County Health and Community Services Division. A Place for Children was created as a result of the collaborative efforts of the Citizens’ Commission for Children, the Children’s Home Society, Healthy Community Initiative, Orange County Bar Association and the Ninth Judicial Circuit. Volunteers from the Foster Grandparent Program provide an invaluable intergenerational presence at A Place for Children. The program is administered and staffed by Children’s Home Society.

Through many caring citizens working together A Place for Children has made it possible to turn a potentially stressful, even damaging experience for children into an opportunity for laughter and learning as well as a chance to turn things around for families in crisis.

A Place for Children opened on Monday, June 29, 1998 and is located on the second floor of the Orange County Courthouse (Room 270). There is no fee for this service and a morning and afternoon snack are served. Children up to the age of fourteen can spend four hour blocks of time at the Center. The Center is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The staff members and volunteers are trained in child development, health, safety, and nutrition, recognizing and preventing child abuse and neglect, and appropriate activities and best practices in working with children. All staff members are certified in CPR and First Aid. Caregivers are given a pager that is internal to the Courthouse when they enroll their children. This enables A Place for Children staff to reach them immediately when needed. Caregivers must complete an enrollment and information form before leaving their children and are given the opportunity to give staff members specific individual instructions for the care of their children. Every caregiver must give an emergency contact for their children. Even when a caregiver is remanded in custody the child is spared the experience of their caregiver’s arrest and detention, and has a safe, caring, comfortable place to play while waiting for their emergency contact to come and take care of them.

Child-sized tables, easels and toys fill the space. A green spring dinosaur provides a ride into their imagination for the children who enter the center. It is not uncommon to see children having a tea party with dolls, or a child snuggling with the staff or a volunteer while they listen to a story. Trained staff and volunteers, who are sensitive to the needs of children and families in crisis, engage the children in stimulating play with developmental toys, support the children as they create art projects, and talk and listen with the children while their caregivers are in court. Instead of listening to court proceedings, the children have an opportunity to be listened to and to learn and play in a place created expressly for them.

In addition to offering clients information on important child development and parent topics, A Place for Children also sponsors a series of brown-bag lunches on current issues in raising and caring for children. A nationally recognized speaker presents topics ranging from recent brain development research to raising moral children and adolescents. This free series is open to the entire Courthouse Community.

The story of the difference being made in our community by A Place for Children is told in the words of the children and caregivers who have used the service and in the numbers of children and families served by the program.

In the first full quarter of operation alone, the Center enrolled 1,029 children for care. 99 families were referred to their Neighborhood Centers for Families and caregivers were given 235 referrals to other community social services in Orange County. This level of service has continued with 327 clients served in the most recent month of operation, 51 families referred to Neighborhood Centers for Families and an additional 97 referrals made to other community services. These numbers represent children who left the Courthouse feeling happy about themselves, holding artwork they had created and telling their caregivers about something exciting they had learned, instead of leaving the Courthouse hungry, tired, confused and unhappy. They also represent families who were given access to full-time child care or career counseling so they could return to work, to financial assistance for their rent and utilities in a crisis situation, to counseling for a child who had experienced sexual trauma, and to beds for their new home. For several parents this opportunity came when they were feeling desperate, prevented their situation from deteriorating, and put them in touch with the help they needed, such as access to the Crisis Nursery.

The message from the children is clear as they leave A Place for Children with comments such as "I could stay here forever!" "Can we come back tomorrow?" "This place is cool!" and "Can we have a sleep over here?" The message from the families is clear, too. Many have described the program as "excellent", "wonderful", "needed", a "great idea" and "a lifesaver". They have described the staff as "cheerful and nurturing", "very professional" and "friendly and caring". One father commented on the "very good care", while a mother said, "I am sorry I had to be in court, but having a place like this for my children made it much easier." (Stephnie S.) Another stated, "This is a great service and I don’t know what I would have done without it. Keep up the excellent work." (Danielle S.) One mother remarked, "They are very helpful with resources as well as child care. Thanks." (Lori L.), while another said, "I think this is a wonderful and very helpful program. Whenever I have business to take care of here, I’ll definitely use A Place for Children." (LaTrenda P.) Many families have returned to use A Place for Children more than once.

A Place for Children provides the potential to strengthen children and families for the future. It is a point of contact between the public and the Court system, which has the potential to renew and foster public trust in the Courts, helping people in our community to see the Courts as a place where citizens are empowered and solutions can be found. A Place for Children sows the seeds of this trust with our youngest community members. It presents a model for caring, hopeful places for children throughout the courts in the state of Florida and beyond.

Many thanks to the following agencies and to all other agencies and individuals who have made A Place for Children possible:

A Place for Children depends on the support of the community. If you would like to volunteer or make a contribution, please call A Place for Children at 407-836-2108. Click on to view video

A Place for Children
Orange County Courthouse
425 North Orange Avenue
Room 270, Suite 73
Orlando, Florida 32801
407-836-2108